As a Dan Brown fan, I was excited to pick up Inferno. Robert Langdon is such a likeable and enjoyable character. After The Da Vinci Code was turned into a movie, it's nearly impossible to not imagine Tom Hanks running around Florence while reading Inferno. This novel is similar to Brown's past novel as you see the story unfolding from different characters' prospectives, it's a race against the clock, Langdon is trying to save the world, a lot, and I mean A LOT, of history/art/architecture/symbolism, lies, deceit, confusion and mystery. This book does not play on religion but rather plagues, overpopulation, genetics, and Dante's Inferno. It is also different in the fact that Langdon does not save the world.
I have a couple qualms with the novel. When I finished the book, it felt unresolved. Langdon did not save the world. He was trying to locate a virus before it was released. However, he was too late, and everyone on planet Earth became infected within a week. He just flies back to Harvard as if nothing had happened. Two other people working with him to find the virus go on to attempt to find a "cure." That's it. It almost feels like it's been left open for a sequel, but a sequel wouldn't make sense. The book just ends with no real finality. Also, Langdon never references his previous experiences from The Da Vinci Code, Angels and Demons or The Lost Symbol. I understand that as an author if you do that you risk confusing/alienating readers who haven't read them. It would seem natural, though, that if I was in a life or death situation, I would flash back to a similar previous experience. So should be the same for Langdon who keeps finding himself in these bizarre history-changing circumstances.
As always, Dan Brown gave readers an entertaining story and access to a world many of us would never otherwise explore. Unfortunately, his writing formula has lost a bit of its luster on me. I will place a lot of weight on the next Robert Langdon novel, if there is one. If it's really good, I'll be roped back in. If it's disappointing, I'll be a lost fan.